A law blog addressing the foci of 3 intrepid law geeks, specializing in their respective fields of knowledge management, internet marketing and library sciences, melding together to form the Dynamic Trio.

There was a very healthy turnout for the survey (244
participants). Percentages as well as total
count have been provided. Graphs have
been provided for quick review. On page
4, “Other” is comprised mostly of Tax, Banking and Finance, Insurance and
Health Care.

There are some interesting things to note as you review the
data:

While
the clear majority of firms participating in the survey do not have
embedded librarians or specialists, when compared to those firms that do
and are considering it, the split is nearly 50/50.

While
most firms with embedded specialists/librarians have had them in place
from 1-5 years, there is also strong number of firms where the position
has been in place for 11+ years

Embedded
Specialists/Librarians seem to find success in a variety of business
support models, most being housed with the department they support, in a
centralized location or in decentralized locations.

The
large majority of embedded specialists/librarians report directly to the
library. The next largest group
have a direct line to the library and dotted line reporting to the
practices they support.

Some
of the benefits firms have experienced from having an embedded
specialist/librarian are developing stronger relationships with their
respective groups and better understanding research need as applied to
practice, cross training of the library staff, improved workflow, improved evaluation
of research products needed to support practice areas and a higher profile
in the firm.

What are your takeaways from the survey? What other
questions would you liked to see asked? Would you like to see this survey updated annually?

2
comments:

I would like to know whether librarians that are located within the department or group they work with express having stronger, better relationships with the other members of the department compared to those who are "centralized" or "decentralized."

Hi Jason: That is a great question. At the conference, we discussed that sitting among members of a practice group did build strong relationships. We also discussed that if a firm is used to a centralized or decentralized model of support, it might take a little longer, but that the relationships are still build because embedded specialists are still a regular presence supporting practice group research and projects, attending meetings, doing training, etc...